Grain-drill.



No. 685,946. Patented Nov. 5, l90l.

a. L. RUBY.

GRAIN DRILL.

(Application filed July 22, 1901 (No Model.)

AO'dTzesses.

PEYERS my. Puumumaf wAsumuTou. n. c.

E, suitably journaled to the under side of the A UNITED STATES PATENTEEICE.

GEORGE L. ROBY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE STODDARD MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

G RAIN DRILL.

SECIFIQATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 685,946, dated November5, 1901. Original application filed February 28, 1901, Serial No.49,248. Divided and this application filed July 22, 1901. Serial To otZZwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. ROBY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Grain-Drills, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specifica tion.

My invention relates to grain-drills, and more particularly to thatclass of grain-drills employing spring-pressuredevices for thefurrow-openers, whether the same be disks or hoes; and it has for itsobject the provision of novel means whereby the spring-pressure uponthefurroW-openers may be distributed equally or unequally to enable thedrill to do proper work, both on level ground and on hillsides, all aswill be hereinafter more fully set forth, and specifically pointed outin the claims. V

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation ofa grain-drill embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation-of themachine with parts omitted to better illustrate the remaining parts.Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail side elevation, partly in section, of oneof the spring-pressure devices and associated parts.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A is the main frame of the drill, of theusual or any suitable construction, supported on an axle B, having onits end the usual carrying-wheels C,which are united to the axle byratchet-andpawl mechanism in a well-known manner in this class ofmachines to cause the rotation of the axle forward when the machine isdrawn forward or is being turned and to release it from rotation whenthe machine is being backed.

D is the hopper, carried upon the main frame and provided in its bottomwith a series of openings, to which are united in the usual or anysuitable manner the feed-cups Ct, containing the usual or anysuitably-constructed force-feed wheels fast upon a shaft (No model.)

hopper and extending through openings in all the cups a after a mannerwell known in grain-drill construction.

The feed-shaft E andthe feed-wheels carried thereby are rotated bydriving mechanism from the axle B in a manner described in a priorapplication of mine to feed the grain in a constant regulated streamfrom the hopper down through the feed-cups into usual spouts F,suspended therefrom, which convey it to depositing-channels either inthe boots of hoes which form the furrow-openers or to sides of disks Gnear the ground, which disks form the furrow-openers,'the disks and hoesbeing well known as interchangeable means for forming the furrows ingrain-drills and both of which are carried on independent drag-bars H,whose forward ends are pivoted,usually, to the forward cross-bar of themain frame A, as indicated in Fig. l.

The description of the machine sofar is of I a well known type andfamiliar to those skilled in the art, and I will now proceed to describethe first feature of' my invention for giving an equal or unequalspring-pressure to the furrow-openers.

Heretofore it has been common in graindrills to employa singlerock-shaft connected by spring-pressure devices to all of the dragbarsor to the hoes or disks for the purpose of forcing the furrow-openers,whether hoes or disks, into the groundto the proper depth and at thesame time by reason of the spring connection to permit any hoe or diskto ride independently in passing an obstructiomsuch as a stump or stone,and then immediately resume its proper working position in the groundand by means of the same rock-shaft and connections to raise all of thefurrowopeners from the ground in transporting the machine from place toplace when not in use. This old method of uniting all of thefurrowopeners to a single rock-shaft has been found objectionable inhillside-Work, for the reason that the lower side'of the machinesustain- 5 ing the greater part of the weight would force thefurrow-openers from the middle to the lower end ofthe machine into theground'to a greater depth than the other furrow openers from the middleto the upper end of the machine, which would not be properly forced intothe ground, and as a result furrows of unequal depths would be made, theupper f urrows not being sufficiently deep and the lower furrows beingdeeper than necessary, and to overcome this objection I employ atwo-part or divided rock-shaft I, journaled in brackets 11 at each endcarried on the main frame A and at their abutting or middle ends in asegment-rack support a, secured to the rear cross-bar of the main frameat its middle. The inner end of the divided shaft 1 has fast to it ahand lock-lever J, engaging the segment-rack C and the inner end of theshaft I has fast upon it a hand-lever K adjacent to the hand-lever J andcapable of being locked thereto by means of a segment-arm L, containinga series of perforations with any one of which a pin secured to thelever K in any suitable or convenient manner can be made to engage inorder to lock the lever K to the lever J-in any of its adjustedpositions, and

thereby lock the shaft 1 to the shaft I when the two have been properlyadjust'ed'to each Coiled around the shafts I I are vo-' lute springs Awhose rear ends are boltedor made fast to the shaft and whose forwardfends, straightened out, have secured to them slottedhead-blocks Cthrough which the up-' other.

per ends of the rigid rods N are passed and are engaged by pins e,extending through two i of a series of perforations on the upperandfundersides ofthe head-block, as seenin Fig. 1.

The-lower ends of the rods or bars N are pivoted, asat d,tothefurrow-openersrthe construc tion being such that the forward rotation of*1 the shafts'I I will'put the springs A undertension, therebypressin gdown thebars Nto force the furrow-openers into'th'eground to therequireddepth, as will 'be'readily understood.

'lo'l'ift'alll of the bars N and'furrow-openers by the'backward rockingof the shafts II, I provid'ebr'acket-arms B FigsJl and3, which, seycured to the shafts I I, extend forward and have angular'exten'sions hengaging the under sides'of the springs A near the head-blocks, so

thatin lifting the furrow-openers very little,

if any, strain will be; put upon the sprinfgsAi, and they are notuncoiled bythe lifting of;

the'furrow-openersto any degree whatever,

as will be readily understood. While I'ha've described this particularand novel form of coiled spring-pressure device applied to the rearendsof the furrow-openers, it is to'be understood that my invention inrespect to the dividedrock-shaft'andindependent lever mechanismthereforis not to be limited to thispartkjular form of spring-pressure device asthere are a variety of other well--" known forms of" spring-pressuredevices c ommon to thegrain-drill artfor applying springmidway, assee'nin Fig. 1, when'thedivided shaft I I is in normal position and all ofthe springs A are either without tension or are under the same tension,and by operating the lever J under this condition of adjustment all ofthe furrow-openers are pressed into the ground with equal tension or maybe lifted entirely out of the ground, and this is the adjustment usedwhen the machine is working on level ground. Should the machine beworked on a sidehill and assuming that the left-hand end of Fig. 2 wason the upper side of the hill, the lever K would be advanced toward thelever J, thereby imparting a much greater tension to the springs carriedby the shaft I than to those carried by the shaft 1, thereby equalizingthe depth of penetration of the entire set of furrow openers andinsuring the depositing of the seed to the right depth'in the soil. If,on the other hand, the right-hand side of the machine of Fig. 2 was onthe elevated sid'e'of the hill, the lever J would be advanced and thelever K drawn backward to give greater pressure to the springs on theright-hand side than to those on the left, as will be readilyunderstood. At the same time it will be observed that both levers arecoupled for unitary action through the medium of the hand le'verJ, aswill be readily understood.

' This application is a division'of'theapplication filed by me February28, 1901', Serial ,No. 49,248, and the machine herein illustrated anddescribed is the same as the machine shown in said application, and anysub= ject-matter. claimed by said'application is hereby disclaime'd'inthis case. Having thus fully described my invention, I; claim v 1. In agrain -drill, the combination of'a series of drag bars carryingfurrow-openers, seeding mechanism for conveying thefgrain into thefurrows made'by'said'openers, a'two= part rock-shaft connectedbyspring-pressure devices with said'f u rrow-openersgineans foradjustably unitingthetwo'parts of'said rock- 'shaft together, and levermechanism for op ,erating both rock-shafts to'press the furrow- :openersinto the ground andto raise them from the ground, substantially asdescribed. 2.v In a grain-drill, thecombination ofaseries of drag-barscarrying furrowope'ners, seeding mechanism for conveying the grain intothe furrows 'made'by said openers, a two part rock-shaftconnectedbyfspring-pressure devices with "said furrow-openers, anadjust- .anism for operatin'gboth rock-'shafts to press thefurrow-openers into the ground and to raise them from the ground,substantially as described.

3. Inagrain-drill, thecombination, of ase ries of drag-bars carryingfurrow-openers,

seeding mechanism for conveying the'grain into the furrows made by saidopeners, a twopart rock-shaft connected by spring-pressure devices withsaid furrow-openers, means for adjustably uniting the two parts of saidrockshaft together, and a single lever for operating both rock-shafts topress the furrow-openers into the ground and to raise them from theground, substantially as described.

4. In a grain-drill, the combination of a series of drag-bars carryingfurrow-openers, seeding mechanism for conveying the grain into thefurrows made by said openers, a twopart rock-shaft connected byspring-pressure devices with said furrow-openers, an adjustable lockingdevice between the two parts of said shaft for putting the springscarried by each under difierent tension, and a single lever foroperating both rock-shafts to press the furrow-openers into the groundand to raise them from the ground, substantially as described.

5. In a grain-drill, the combination of a series of furrow-openers, arook-shaft for raising and lowering the same, a series of volute springssurrounding said rock-shaft and fast thereto at one end, and rigid linksconnecting the free ends of said springs and the furrow-openers,substantially as described.

6. In a grain-drill, the combination of a sories of furrow-openers, arock-shaft for raising and lowering the same, a series of volnte springssurrounding said rock-shaft and fast thereto at one end, rigid linksconnecting the free ends of said springs and the furrow-openers, andstops applied to said springs near their free ends to engage the samewhen the rock-shaft is turned to raise the f arrow-openers,substantially as described.

GEORGE L. ROBY.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. CAMPBELL, F. W. BENTZ,

